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Parkway Drive - Horizons review



Reviewer:
8.4

120 users:
8.38
Band: Parkway Drive
Album: Horizons
Release date: October 2007


01. Begin
02. The Sirens' Song
03. Feed Them To The Pigs
04. Carrion
05. Five Months
06. Boneyards
07. Idols And Anchors
08. Moments In Oblivion
09. Breaking Point
10. Dead Man's Chest
11. Frostbite
12. Horizons

First of all, before the review starts I'd like to say how much I love Parkway Drive's name, I mean it has that corniness that all metalcore bands should have, but it doesn't go over the top... I guess you can describe the music like that too.

Parkway Drive hails from down under, playing some slamming metalcore with crazy fast and technical leads, hard hitting breakdowns and a plethora of other goodies. First, and definitely the best aspect, is the guitar work. I mean, you don't get kids on YouTube covering your songs for pride if they aren't hard to play. Some of the lead riffs blow my mind away, and just when I think that's it - BOOM another riff on top of that. I seriously can't understand how the band can remember the order for these riffs.

As expected, bass is only audible if you are Gary McBasslapper; this is a problem with most modern albums, so I think it's a problem most of us have gotten used to. I wish we could hear it however, because I'm sure it's as good as the guitars.

Drumming is fairly average, your standard double bass fills, crash cymbal breakdowns and just simplicity all around. However this really isn't a big deal, because most of the time you're focused on the insane guitar work.

Part four is the vocals, which are nice. Why "nice"? They are nice because they don't do what you expect them to... there is no clean singing here. None, zero, zilch, nada. (Okay, maybe half a verse.) All of this time writing leads and bass lines isn't ruined by clean vocals. So thanks Parkway Drive, that was nice of you.

This all being said, there are some flaws, minimalistic as they are. The biggest flaw is that a lot of the songs sound very similar; riffs are sometimes reused and only slightly modified. Not a big deal if it's your first time listening, but I imagine it would get very repetitive for the average listener to hear this 16 times while on a car trip or something. The other noticeable flaw is that the vocals stay the same for 90% of the album: your standard barking and growling. There isn't anything new added to the picture. (But still, thanks for no cleans!)

Overall, this is a metalcore album for those who aren't a fan of metalcore. If you are this could possibly become your favourite album.

Highlight - "Carrion"


Rating breakdown
Performance: 9
Songwriting: 8
Originality: 6
Production: 8

Written by Boxcar Willy | 27.05.2012




Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.


Comments

Comments: 2   Visited by: 99 users
27.05.2012 - 19:00
Uldreth

*crash cymbal

I find you analysis of this album weird because I don't really hear much technicality in those riffs, in fact, they always seemed kind of simple to me, on average at least. I do like this band a lot but I always thought they got carried a lot by their vocalist whose vocals are excellent btw.

But a nice and well written review it is.

Edit: bland was not the best word to use.
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27.05.2012 - 19:04
Rating: 8
Boxcar Willy
yr a kook
Written by Uldreth on 27.05.2012 at 19:00

*crash cymbal

I find you analysis of this album weird because I don't really hear much technicality in those riffs, in fact, they always seemed kind of bland to me, on average at least. I do like this band a lot but I always thought they got carried a lot by their vocalist whose vocals are excellent btw.

But a nice and well written review it is.

Oops, I asked Troy to proof it, (instead of just leaving it in the queue) so he was probably a bit rushed.

I find the technicality in the riffs due to the constant change, nothing stays the same very long.

Yes, the vocalist is good, but his range is very limited, not that that''s a bad thing.

and, thanks
----
14:22 - Marcel Hubregtse
I do your mum

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